I had just joined the company and I was thrilled to discover that Fola, who had a car, was going my way. That meant no bus hustles, standing under the sun and rushing for a seat in the hot vehicles that make up our means of transportation here in Lagos. Folas very comfortable car was Heaven sent as we prepared to leave the office 5 mins before 5pm :-P
The day at the office has been just like any other day. I got to work early because Heaven forbid that one should live in Ajah and leave home at 7am hoping to resume work on the island at 8am, i tell you Heaven forbid!
Work progressed smoothly amidst the usual chatting, meeting deadlines, having lunch and all other normal office activities.... Then it was time to switch off mentally from work issues and head home, happy in fact elated was I.
I'm not the quiet type but that day as we drove out of the office I was silent and deep in thought, I considered where life had led me to thus far and how I was going to adjust into life in a bustling city like Lagos... As we drove on the bridge between Ikoyi and VI my eye was drawn to a pure water hawker, whom I will call Emeka...
As Emeka dashed in-between cars to make sales and avoid collisions, his tray fell off his head and his sachets of pure water came tumbling down. Unfortunately the traffic started moving and the oncoming cars drove straight through his goods leaving behind empty satchets....... and a face with heart wrenching tears streaming down.
Those tears got to my heart, they came so instantly and though I was far away and couldn't hear a thing I felt his pain... The sorrow and sadness on his face went straight to my heart like it had direct wifi access to it...
He looked like a teenager but his tears came from his gut, a place he probably thought no one in the world knew existed... I felt his pain at the unfairness of his predicament and his fear at the consequences of what would undoubtedly be labelled as 'his carelessness'.
In the hot Lagos sun, that somehow manages to shine brightly even at 5pm, I observed his face and my mind reacted to what had troubled my heart and spirit. I instinctively grabbed the door handle to open it and reach out to tell him not to cry because I would help him out; you see my brain had already done a mental calculation or be it a rough estimate of the total net worth of the goods that had been on the tray. I immediately recalled I had N500 and concluded that it would be enough to ease his pain and answer any questions that may arise about how his day went.
As I tried to open the door, I suddenly remembered we were driving on the bridge with cars behind us and it would be suicide to just open the door. Fola hadn't noticed a thing as driving requires your full concentration anyway. We drove past as I looked at Emeka and wondered 'Would she stop if i asked her to or would she simply laugh me off'? What would Fola think if I asked her to stop so I could go back to give him the money?
Sadly i was not confident enough in myself to ask her to stop... I cared too much about how she would view me after that, if it would be the topic of the day at work tomorrow, if i would be labeled as a 'notice me' and all these fears or worries about how another person would perceive me caused me not to ACT.
I remained silent as we drove home but my mind was on Emeka and what the end of his day would look like. I re assessed my life, my complaints and my grumblings and realised I had it okay if not good but more than that I realised that I wanted everybody to have it 'okay' if not good.
Its been over 5 years since this happened but even as I wirte, tears form a pool in my eyes as I remember the heart wrenching picture a young boys tears left imprinted on my heart...N500 to me then was nothing, not because I had a lot of money or a job paying me in the hundreds of thousands but simply because I knew that if i parted with it i would still be ok, but i couldn't say the same for him...
I never saw him again: I betrayed myself for not speaking up and i lost an opportunity to give someone the strength to get through another day because I wasn't confident enough to be me.
From that 1 minute experience I made a decision that no matter my present surroundings, when next a situation spoke to the core of my heart, I would ACT.
You see there is a strength of character muscle we develop anytime we are bold enough to do what our heart says is the right thing to do even if it means you looking odd or being laughed at for a minute or two...
Touch a life whenever God gives you the opportunity, heart and resources to do so...
(c) 2016 Iquo'Ma
